PEIC Level 1 (A2) common mistakes
PEIC Level 1 (A2) · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
Spends the first five or six minutes reading the whole passage word by word, then answers the later questions from memory without going back to the text.
Candidates transfer the 'read everything carefully first' habit from school, but at A2 decoding is slow, so the reading time is gone before the questions are even looked at.
What to do instead
Read the questions first and underline the key word in each one, then scan the passage for the paragraph with that idea and read only that part twice. Practise with a timer: 1 minute on questions, 30-40 seconds per item.
Chooses an option because it repeats a word that appears in the passage, rather than because it matches the meaning of the sentence.
With a limited vocabulary, surface word-matching feels safe; the candidate recognises one familiar word and stops analysing.
What to do instead
After choosing, force the candidate to point to the exact sentence that proves the answer and check that the option restates it in different words. Teach that an option copying the passage word for word is usually a trap.
Ignores the instruction line: ticks one box when the task says 'choose two', or writes a three-word phrase in a gap that allows one word.
Candidates jump straight to the questions under exam pressure and treat the rubric as decoration; at A2 they may also not know words like 'choose' or 'maximum'.
What to do instead
Make 'read the instruction and circle the number of answers / the word limit' a compulsory first step in every practice task, checked before any answer is written.
Writes one short sentence of eight to ten words for a message task that asks for 40-50 words, giving no reason and no extra detail.
The candidate answers the question literally and considers the job done; producing more language feels risky because errors are more likely.
What to do instead
Drill a fixed extension formula for every message: answer + reason ('because...') + one detail or example. Count words after each practice piece and rewrite anything under the required length.
Copies the wording of the prompt into the first line and never covers the second or third task point (for example, says what the party is for but not when it is).
Under time pressure the candidate writes the easiest sentence first and runs out of ideas, treating the bullet points as optional.
What to do instead
Before writing, list the task points as a numbered checklist and tick each one off in the plan; after writing, tick them again in the finished text. One bullet point equals at least one sentence.
Produces an email or note with no greeting and no closing, no paragraph breaks, and mixed register such as 'Hi Tom' followed by 'Yours faithfully'.
Candidates focus entirely on grammar and vocabulary and have never been taught that format itself carries marks at this level.
What to do instead
Memorise two short templates (informal: Hi + name ... See you soon + first name; neutral: Dear + name ... Best wishes + full name) and practise them until the layout is automatic, leaving the content as the only thing to think about.
Starts the recording without having looked at the questions, so does not know what information to listen for and writes answers only when a word happens to sound familiar.
Candidates treat the pause before the audio as dead time and do not realise that prediction is the main listening skill at A2.
What to do instead
Use every pre-listening pause to read the next two questions and predict the answer type (a time, a place, a name, a number). Practise predicting from the question alone before ever pressing play.
Stops listening after missing one answer and spends the next twenty seconds working out what the previous item was, missing the two items that follow.
The candidate treats each item as all-or-nothing and cannot accept an unanswered gap; panic makes them freeze on the lost word.
What to do instead
Train a 'leave it and move on' rule: put a dash in the gap, note the question number, and immediately look at the next question. Rehearse this deliberately in practice by removing one answer on purpose.
Answers speaking questions with one or two words ('Yes', 'Football', 'My friend') so that the examiner has almost nothing to assess.
The candidate is answering the question accurately and does not know that length and development are part of the criteria; short answers feel safer than making mistakes.
What to do instead
Use the same answer + reason + detail formula as in writing, spoken aloud: 'Yes, I like football because I play every weekend with my brother.' Every practice answer must be at least two full sentences before the candidate moves on.
Stays silent for several seconds after an unclear question, or recites a memorised answer that does not respond to the question actually asked.
Candidates have no repair phrases and fear that asking for repetition will cost marks; memorised answers come from preparing topics rather than listening to the question word.
What to do instead
Drill three repair phrases to automaticity ('Sorry, can you repeat that, please?', 'Can you say that more slowly?', 'Do you mean ...?') and practise answering unseen questions where the candidate must first identify whether it starts with what, where, when, who or why.